Several Jamaican companies have been able to tap into international markets after consulting with experts at Benchmark Quality Management Solutions.

Benchmark, an outsource partner for quality food safety and related management systems, helps companies to become internationally competitive through the implementation and certification of world-class standards.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Velton Gooden said on #MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds that the company works with testing partners who generate results, which they then use to help a business improve and prepare for moving beyond Jamaica’s borders.

The process

“It’s a fairly simple process. First, we pay the client a visit because we like to see how much of a required system they have in place and we follow that up with what we call a gap analysis,” he said.

Following that gap analysis, Benchmark presents a proposal to the client to walk them through the steps they need to take to meet the requirements of the marketplace they are targeting. Dr Gooden said the entire process usually involves training and documentation of standard operating procedures.

“If you are exporting to a particular country, what will happen is that you’d identify a purchaser in that country and based on the type of products you are seeking to export, the purchaser would communicate with the regulator of that country to issue what is called an import permit. That permit sets out all the requirements the business has to meet in order to export to that country and that is where we come in,” he said.

Different jurisdictions

Dr Gooden noted there are different requirements for different jurisdictions. The company specialises in guiding businesses on what they need to have declared before entering a market.

“If you’re going into the UK, [for example], you need to do a declaration of your best before [date]. You need to know how long this product will be on the shelf before it’s no longer suitable for consumption. If you’re going into the US, the basic requirement is that the nutritionals of the food has to be declared on the label,” he explained.

According to Dr Gooden, the most challenging requirements are linked to the European Union, which has requirements specific to member countries in addition to EU requirements.

Daunting inspections

In January 2020, just before the pandemic started to affect Jamaica, the CEO said Benchmark worked with two local exporters who were seeking to ship pimento and other Jamaican spices to the United States.

He said the companies had engaged them in preparation for an inspection by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US. Those inspections form part of the requirements for all businesses seeking to export to the United States under their Food Safety Modernization Act (2011).

“Imagine being a small importer and the FDA sends someone to check you out. That can be daunting so they reached out to us and we prepared them and they were successful and now they’re continuing their export business in the US,” said Dr Gooden.

More recently, last month, the CEO said Benchmark helped a big fertiliser manufacturer become ISO 9000 certified. He said more details of that development will be released in the coming days.

“Very soon that will be in the public domain,” he said. “They have successfully completed their certification process and are now aiming to leverage that certification to access even more markets.”

Benchmark has also consulted with companies engaged in the local cannabis industry to help them export their products.

Business looking to sell internationally can contact Benchmark Quality Management Solution at 876-927-5888 or via e-mail at info@benchmarkqms.com.

The company also accepts walk-ins at their office at Unit 6, 8 Lady Musgrave Road, in Kingston.

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